questions about removing bloatware and backing up..

hello all, the latest OTA update has really pissed me off with the addition of more bloatware. simply hiding them is not enough for me as knowing they are there just pisses me off. ( side question; is it legal for these companies to add aditional software with out your consent?)

i know everyone says to just freeze the bloat and not root. my question is if i create a nandroid backup with all the bloat then i remove the bloat am i safe?

what hapens if i do a factory data reset after i remove the bloat?

last question, which apps are definite don't unistall apps? im planning on getting rid of all VZW apps and the two new video/music apps. plus moto apps.

A- Remove/Freeze all bloatware. This creates certain problems as the OTA updates can look for those programs and if they're not present will either restore them or fail on update.

B- Hide them and just ignore. No problems with OTA. lol.

I go with B, someone in a different forum actually did a benchmark with and without bloatware and there's almost 0 performance difference. I know many (like my better half) are very OCD about it. When the new OTA came down, hers kept failing. I ended up fastbooting going all the way through update/restore then rooting her .173. We don''t know if it was the bloatware that caused the update to fail, but I think it may have been part of the problem.

I have a very minimalist homescreen so I pull most of my apps from the App Drawer and bloatware doesn't bother me.

I tell most people new to rooting (you may or may not be, I'm not sure, sorry if I'm preaching to the choir) to NEVER freeze, move or delete any stock VZW software as it just seems to cause more problems than it fixes.

Staff Member

I suggest you Hide and ignore them. They don't ruin or degrade performance.

Problem with deleting and/or Freezing is you never know what will foul up the next upgrade. I can only speak from my experience, but I ONLY rooted the device and FROZE bloat on .748. I didn't modify or delete anything and I was unable to update to latest OTA. If you are willing to go through a potential headache later then feel free to delete and back-up. If not just hide it and move on. Again, that was only MY experience but it's worth noting

I suggest you Hide and ignore them. They don't ruin or degrade performance.

Problem with deleting and/or Freezing is you never know what will foul up the next upgrade. I can only speak from my experience, but I ONLY rooted the device and FROZE bloat on .748. I didn't modify or delete anything and I was unable to update to latest OTA. If you are willing to go through a potential headache later then feel free to delete and back-up. If not just hide it and move on. Again, that was only MY experience but it's worth noting

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Some of these apps are always running and pop up in the battery usage. specially the IM app from Moto. Something interesting i noticed is that when i click on a link from the facebook app (for example) it asks me to choose whether to open the page with the browser or VZ Navigator (huh?).

I deleted a lot of bloat ware and other apps I did not want. And this morning going to class. I needed to call my instructor to let him know I will be running late. Well the phone book would not make calls or show numbers. So I restored to my stock rooted. I know what your saying but I still do not want them on my phone. I have all my tracks covered in the event I mess something wrong but I am researching so I do not. so another question then. What about rom flashing?